


Whatshername

by whitegirlswritingfanfic



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band), OFC - Fandom, michael clifford - Fandom
Genre: Cute, F/M, Friendship, Love, School, Travel, abandoned, idk what else, stutter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-06
Updated: 2014-03-01
Packaged: 2018-01-11 08:21:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1170818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitegirlswritingfanfic/pseuds/whitegirlswritingfanfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Hey. Whatcha doin?" She asked, throwing her bag on the table and sitting across from me.</p><p>"H-h-homework." I stuttered out. She smirked as I talked, and I could tell she wasn't the nicest girl I'd ever talk to. Just like everyone at school. Who doesn't like to pick on the weird kid with the stutter?</p><p>"That's cute. Are you in high school around here?" She asked, leaning on her elbows towards me and sipping on the milkshake she'd ordered. The glint in her eyes told me she loved messing with me.<br/>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>a story in which Michael is just following his daily routine, which is unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) interrupted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

**Heavy words are hard to take, under pressure precious things can break.**

 

The worn plastic of the booth was cracked in multiple places, forming an uncomfortable bump no matter where I sat. It was a tradition of mine, in a way. Every day after school I come to the diner at the corner of East Ave and quietly finish my homework in the same booth in the same spot. The same waitress would bring me my usual cup of coffee and I would slowly sip it until I felt warm inside. Usually the place was empty. It was a little gem that would be easy to miss even if you were driving down the street. Stuck in between a quaint music store and a chinese restaurant, the Café Vela was an oasis. I easily escaped my tormentors at school by slipping into the warmth of the small cafe everyday. Until today that is.

 

Tossing my backpack into the vacant booth, I plopped down onto the uneven surface. I opened my backpack and let out a sigh of relief when I saw that nothing inside had gotten wet due to the pouring rain outside. Pulling out my large textbook, I glanced up to see the older waitress bringing me my coffee. She slowly made her way over to me, setting the mug of steaming coffee on the table with a ‘clink’. I smiled at her gratefully and murmured a small “thanks” before opening the book in front of me. The cover held a picture of Saturn surrounded by stars and galaxies, while “Astronomy” was written in word art along the top. The beautiful colors of the galaxy were faded and the sides of the pages frayed due to so much use. I glanced in my planner, and all I had to do was read chapters 23 and 24. easy enough right? I skillfully opened the book to the correct chapter and began reading.

 

The door of the cafe flew open causing the smallbell to ring. Out of the corner of my eye, a person was visible standing at the counter, but I thought nothing of it. The presence of another person in the cafe besides myself and the waitress was almost annoying. After rereading the same sentence five times, I finally looked up. At the counter stood a warm figure, looking about eighteen years old. Her soft pink hair under a grey beanie fell in waves down her back as she read the menu board. A black Jansport backpack was balanced by one strap, on the front were patches of what looked like bands and feminist sayings. A matching grey sweatshirt covered her top half while black skinny jeans worn at the heels clad her legs. She was small but broad in all the right ways. I squinted skeptically at her and went back to reading my chapter. The old waitress met her at the register and I could hear the ‘cha-ching’ of the ancient machine as change was returned. As much as I hate to admit it, I was watching her out of the corner of my eye. When she turned away from the counter I quickly snapped my gaze back to the book so that she wouldn't see me, but I was apparently a second too late.

"Hey. Whatcha doin?" She asked, throwing her bag on the table and sitting across from me.

"H-h-homework." I stuttered out. She smirked as I talked, and I could tell she wasn't the nicest girl I'd ever talk to. Just like everyone at school. Who doesn't like to pick on the weird kid with the stutter?

"That's cute. Are you in high school around here?" She asked, leaning on her elbows towards me and sipping on the milkshake she'd ordered. The glint in her eyes told me she loved messing with me.

"Y-yeah. I go t-to one a few m-minutes away. I h-haven't seen you at s-school. What are y-you d-doing here?" I asked. She leaned back and smiled before pulling a map out of her bag. Right as she was about to start talking the door opened and in from the rain ran five teenagers. They were extremely noisy and the boys were pushing each other around while the girls fretted over their wind blown hair. I Imediately recognized them as a clique from my high school that loved to torment me. I ducked my head, but out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the girls, Vivian, notice me. When we were in seventh grade she had acted nice to me for a few weeks then asked me on a date before standing me up and embarrassing me in front of the entire school the next day.

"Look who it is! M-M-Michael Clifford!" said Vivian, snickering. I shrunk into the seat, trying to make myself invisible, inevitably failing.

"Oh! and with a girl! Surprise surprise. We all thought you were gay after yo-"

"Bitch, shut up." interrupted the girl sat across from me.

Both Vivian and I looked at her wide eyed. She just look unfazed, even a little pissed.

Vivian, flabbergasted, said, "Excuse you? Do you even know who I am?"

"No, and I don't really care." Replied the girl. "Michael here, is the nicest guy I've ever met and he's a great fuck. So just give it up." She glanced at me to make sure I was okay and I slightly nodded my head to show that I understood what she was doing.

"C'mon babe, let's go back to yours." she said. I quickly shuffled all my schoolwork into my backpack, slinging it onto my back and following in persuit. She grabbed my hand and tugged me out into the rain, running with me into the music store next door.

"T-thanks for that." I muttered. She smirked at me and started looking through some of the records that were in a bin.

"She seemed like a bitch. Don't think that this means I like you now, okay. I mean, I was talking to you and she interrupted me." She explained, picking up a record to look at it before putting it back. She moved over to the CDs and kept going through them.

"Yeah w-what were you saying b-before?" I asked. I leaned against a wall and waited for her response, picking at a loose string on my jeans.

"Well, you asked me what I'm doing. I'm just making my way around the world. I was gonna show you my map where I already marked where I've gone. I don't stay anywhere for very long." She said, picking up a CD with a smile.

"That sounds c-cool. I've always wanted to g-get out of this p-place." I mused, kicking my shoes against the ground.

"You could always come with me." She said with a smirk, glancing up at me.

"Yeah. C-can I?" I asked. She gave me an extremely confused look and nearly dropped her CD.

"Wait, you actually want to come with me?" She asked incredulously.

"I w-want to get out of this town and m-my parents don't give a shit what I-I do any more. So yeah, I'd l-like to come with y-you." I said, smiling slightly at her. She looked a little taken aback, but nodded.

"Alright, kid. Let's do this." She said before setting down all the CDs she'd picked up and holding out her hand.

"I'm Michael b-by the way. W-what about you?" I asked. I was intrigued by this girl for some reason. She was as interesting as the books I read so I could pretend for a time that I wasn't stuck in a town with no friends to hang out with on Friday nights, and I really wanted to know more about her. A name is a good place to start though.

"You can call me whatshername." She said with a smirk, pulling away and picking up the pile of CDs. On top I saw American Idiot by Green Day and chuckled to myself.

"Whatshername it i-is." I muttered, trailing along behind her into whatever would happen next.


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hey. Whatcha doin?" She asked, throwing her bag on the table and sitting across from me.
> 
> "H-h-homework." I stuttered out. She smirked as I talked, and I could tell she wasn't the nicest girl I'd ever talk to. Just like everyone at school. Who doesn't like to pick on the weird kid with the stutter?
> 
> "That's cute. Are you in high school around here?" She asked, leaning on her elbows towards me and sipping on the milkshake she'd ordered. The glint in her eyes told me she loved messing with me.  
> \---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> a story in which Michael is just following his daily routine, which is unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) interrupted.

(So here we go again wishin’ we could start again)

"Mom, dad? Anyone h-home?" I called as I walked into my house. I saw a note on the counter and picked it up. Another business trip? I thought as I walked towards my room. Whatshername was trailing behind me and drinking in everything around her.

"Where are they?" She asked.

"Business t-trip. I'll just leave th-them a note. They have to fill out the p-paperwork f-for dropping out of school anyways." I said, climbing the stairs. She followed me into my room and sat down on my bed, watching me empty my backpack and fill it with things I might need.

"Don't forget money. I've got an endless bank account, but I don't know about you. I won't spot you too much money." She said. She looked very at home on my bed with her legs crossed and picking at the black nail polish on her fingers.

"I-I've got one of those too. It's nice to have p-parents who d-don't give a fuck about you s-sometimes." I joked, shoving my wallet into my pocket. She smiled tightly and leaned back on my bed.

"We've got a train to catch in an hour. You'll have to buy a ticket before so we've gotta get there soon. You done yet?" She asked. I nodded and slung my backpack back onto my shoulder.

"O-okay. Where are w-we going?" I asked as we walked downstairs. I jotted down that I was leaving with a girl to travel the world and that I'd have my phone before walking towards the door where she was waiting.

"We're going to New York City. I haven't been there yet." She said with a smile. We started walking towards the train station on the other side of town.

"So where a-are you from? You have a w-weird accent." I asked. She laughed and readjusted her backpack.

"To me you're the one with a weird accent. I'm from London, but I haven't been there in years. What about you?" She asked.

"Australia. My family m-moves a lot. It doesn't r-really help t-to be the n-new weird kid with a stutter and an a-accent." I said, running a hand through my hair.

"Didn't you say you knew that bitch in seventh grade though? How long have you been here?" She questioned.

"Since th-then. My p-parents thought it'd be good f-for me to settle down for the r-rest of school. Maybe I'd m-make some friends and be n-normal or something. That didn't really w-work out how it was s-supposed to though." I laughed. She cracked a small smile and was silent as we entered a kind of bad section of town. I moved closer to her and no one came closer to us. I knew a bit about self defense, but I still felt vulnerable. A comfortable silence fell between us as we walked, I just focused my attention on my worn out nikes. The sky was a dreary grey color similar to that of the sidewalk. I nuzzled into the collar of my jacket, trying to keep the wind from nipping my face. I looked at the girl next to me and she, on the other hand, was embracing the wind like it was a warm hug. Her pink hair flowed like water behind her while her eyes were squinted to match the grin across her face until she turned her head to meet my gaze and flash me a toothy grin. 

"What're you lookin at, punk?" She challenged with a smirk. 

"N-nothing!" I blurted, feeling a red heat spread across my face. Whatshername nodded with a smirk on her face before she went back to enjoying the breeze. 

"So why did your parents just leave without telling you?" She asked, twirling her hair.

"They d-do this shit a-all the time. They're in the real e-estate investment business, s-so they t-travel all the time to s-see new places t-to invest in. They don't r-really give me warning ever so I'm used t-to it by now." I answered, hugging my coat closer to me.

"They sound like dicks." She said blatantly.

"They are. But they're rich dicks, so it could be worse." I said, kicking a rock in our path. We were just about out of the bad side of time, but then a guy came out of an alley and stood in our path.

"Hey, you're really hot. You wanna ditch this guy and come with me pretty lady." The clearly drunk man slurred at us.

"Fuck off." She spat, crossing her arms.

"I'd rather fuck y-" The guy took a step towards her and my arm flashed out, hitting him square in the jaw. I heard a small crack and Whatshername grabbed my other hand and pulled us away, running in the direction of the train station.

"What the hell were you thinking, Mikey? That guy is three times your size!" She shouted at me once we were a good distance away. We were both panting slightly, but there was something about the way that she looked that seemed a little off from just being out of shape. I shook it off though as I figured out how to respond. Weren't most girls into that macho heroic crap?

"I don't k-know. He was m-messing with you. You stood up for me b-before, so I thought I'd return the f-favor." I explained, scratching the back of my head.

"Well, don't do that. We're even now, so don't try to be all noble and defend my honor or whatever the fuck you wanna call it. I can stand up for myself. I've obviously done it before." She spat. I held up my hands in surrender, and she turned and started walking towards the train station again. When we got there I bought my ticket and we sat in silence waiting for the train.

"I w-won't punch anyone else if y-you don't want m-me to." I stuttered out, trying to break the awkward silence.

"Yeah. Let's make some rules for this thing, okay? I don’t want you irritating the shit out of me all the time.” She said. I nodded nervously and watched as she reached into her bag and pulled out a well used and doodled all over notebook. She flipped open to a clean page and wrote “RULES” in block letters messily across the top.

“S-so rule number o-one is d-don’t get in fights f-for each other?” I asked. She nodded and scrawled it onto the page.

“Number two is no touchy feely shit. We’re going out there to just experience whatever we can until we can’t anymore. There is absolutely no backstory past what we already know about each other.” She said as she wrote it in the book. She looked off for a minute as she thought about what to write next before writing it and tracing over it to make it very bold.

“No fucking each other. No offense dude, but I don’t think you can do no strings attached. Other girls are fair game though. Or boys, if that’s what you’re into.” She said. 

I blushed and opened and shut my mouth a few times before finally saying, “I like g-girls.” She laughed and rolled her eyes.

“I guessed that one, Mikey. You’ve been checking me out since the minute we met.” She said. I blushed even deeper, but I was saved from further embarrassment as they called our train for boarding. We grabbed our backpacks and boarded, finding our seats easily. Once we sat down I stared out the window. I silently said bye to the stupid town I’d been stuck in for so long because even though I hate it, I’d still miss it. I’ve grown attached to it since I’d moved here, and it was where I’d lived for most of my life.

“Are you going to miss it?” Whatshername asked, almost like she was reading my mind.

“I thought y-you said n-no touchy feely past crap.” I joked, turning to her. She laughed and shrugged.

“There are exceptions to every rule, babe.” She said.

“Well th-then yeah I’ll m-miss it. It’s the p-place I’ve lived f-for the longest. I’m k-kinda used to m-moving though. I-I’m used to n-not getting attached.” I explained. She nodded and fell silent as we started moving. She asked if she could have the window seat and I let her. She stared out the window in pure awe as we passed through cities and countryside. The look on her face showed how fascinated she was with the world, and with life, and I couldn’t help but start to grow attached immediately. It was hard to find people who appreciated the world for what it was. Most people loved potential. What the world could become and what it could do for them. Not so many people accept the way things are and work with just what they have, but she seemed perfectly content with where she was. I didn’t even know Whatshername’s actual name, but in that moment I started to love her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who's reading the story! Sorry it took forever to update Erin can be a little poop sometimes. You should go check out our tumblrs because we post when we update the story:  
> alltimerin.tumblr.com  
> lukesnotpunk.tumblr.com


End file.
